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Loeb rides Mexican wave onto triple win
publication date: Mar 3, 2008
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author/source: Robin Roberts
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Reigning WRC king Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in their familiar Citroën C4 collected their third consecutive Rally Mexico win yesterday.
Their hat-trick takes them to within a single point of the provisional Drivers' championship leader, while Citroën has made up a little of its deficit in the Manufacturers' classification.
"The last day featured a little more than 60km of competitive action divided into three stages, plus a final attempt at the super-special in León," commented Sébastien Loeb.
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"Despite our overnight lead, we approached today's leg cautiously because of the risks inherent in being first on the road, like having to sweep a clear line, punctures, etc."
Despite their apprehension, the World Champions came through the day unscathed and the cancellation of the day's longest test for safety reasons didn't upset them unduly.
"There's always a bit more pressure when you are some points behind," said the Frenchman, who had crashed out in Sweden last month.
"But OK, I always expected to do a good job here in Mexico. This rally has not been so easy, I had a big battle with Jari-Matti but we got the result we came for finally," he told the official wrc.com website.
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This opening gravel event of the season proved a tough challenge and few escaped problems over the three days and 331.45km of competition in the mountains of central Mexico, near León.
The high altitude speed tests, which climbed to more than 2700m, meant engines lost about 25 percent of their normal power in the thinner air while the rocky tracks proved a constant hazard for the unwary. |
The Frenchman was chased hard by Australian Subaru driver Chris Atkinson, who put in an outstanding drive to second place.
Ford’s Latvala, who led after Friday's opening action, started today's final day in third after a turbo pipe problem Saturday afternoon.
With no pressure from behind and no chance of making progress up the leaderboard, the 22-year-old Finn paced himself through the final three special stages, but was still fastest on the opening stage to secure a podium finish.
"It's an important result for me and it's a good result for the team and our championship challenge," he said. "I achieved my goal of being on the podium and it's just a shame we had a problem yesterday when fighting for the lead.
“But if I think about things closely, it has been a good weekend and I don't have any complaints. The best aspect was being able to challenge Loeb and match his times and I hope I can get just as close to him in the future because I had good speed this weekend."
The championship remains in the Americas for round four when Villa Carlos Paz hosts the all-gravel Rally Argentina on 27 - 30 March.
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Final positions
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1. S Loeb/D Elena
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Citroen C4
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3hr 33min 29.9sec
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2. C Atkinson/S Prévot
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Subaru Impreza
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3hr 34min 36.0sec
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3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila
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Ford Focus RS
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3hr 35min 09.6sec
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4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen
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Ford Focus RS
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3hr 37min 08.6sec
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5. H Solberg/C Menkerud
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Ford Focus RS
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3hr 38min 27.8sec
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6. M Wilson/S Martin
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Ford Focus RS
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3hr 39min 58.8sec
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7. F Villagra/J Perez Companc
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Ford Focus RS
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3hr 52min 32.9sec
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8. R Trivino/C Salo
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Peugeot 206
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3hr 54min 47.2sec*
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9. S Ogier/J Ingrassia
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Citroen C2
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3hr 58min 54.8sec
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10 J Mölder/F Miclotte
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Suzuki Swift
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4hr 00min 26.7sec
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*subject to appeal
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Drivers
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Manufacturers
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1. M Hirvonen
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1pts
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1. BP Ford Abu Dhabi
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37pts
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2. S Loeb
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20pts
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2. Citroen Total
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25pts
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3. J-M Latvala
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16pts
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3. Subaru
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25pts
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4. C Atkinson
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14pts
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4. Stobart VK M-Sport
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19pts
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5. G Galli
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9pts
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5. Munchi's Ford
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6pts
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6. P Solberg
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9pts
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6. Suzuki
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5pts
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